


The Dance of Avoidance

by for_t2



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: Dreams and Nightmares, F/F, Growing Up, Hiding, Humor, Light Angst, Love Confessions, Nerdiness, Pizza, Post-Season/Series 07, Vampire Slayer(s), Wolfram & Hart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2019-12-14
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:47:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21785449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/for_t2/pseuds/for_t2
Summary: The First defeated, it's time to start planning for the future, and Faith & Buffy both need to figure out what that means
Relationships: Faith Lehane/Buffy Summers
Comments: 4
Kudos: 75





	The Dance of Avoidance

"Hmm. Interesting."

"Interesting?"

"Very interesting," Wesley mumbled as he circled around her, glasses focused to max. "Positively fascinating!"

"Fascinating... how?" Faith wasn't afraid to admit that a lot of things. Hell, she'd heard them all before, from the endless string of profanities that made up one of her mum's dealer's mouth to the boy in grade nine who gave her the most heartfelt expression of love she'd ever seen at that point (unfortunately, as far as Faith could tell, it seemed plagarised from the Vogon Textbook of Poetry, but it seemed heartfelt). Positively fascinating, however, was a new one.

"Do you think we should start with the heart or the brain?" Fred wondered out loud behind Wes, brow furrowed in an x-ray print-out.

"Hmm." Wesley circled Faith one more time before coming to a stop. He looked back at Fred. "Both?"

"Both." Fred nodded.

"Um, guys?" Faith didn't like the way Fred was snapping a pair of surgical gloves on. Or the way Wesley was humming happily to a set of knives. "Guys?"

"Now, now," Wesley said in his best attempt at a soothing voice. "Remember the three key words."

"Preparation, preparation, preparation?"

"Exactly!" And Faith really didn't like how they were suddenly in the middle of an operating theatre.

"Don't worry, Faith." And Fred was even worse at the whole soothing thing when her eyes got manic like that. "It's the only way to stop those pesky little feelings!"

And when they both grabbed Faith's arms and dragged her towards the table, Faith screamed. Or, at least, she tried to.

Instead, she just woke up.

*****

"Faith!" 

Faith jumped as the sound of the voice cut through her exhausted daze, her cup of coffee going half-cold in front of her. 

"Are you feeling alright?" And, of course, it had to be Buffy.

"Um, yeah, B." Faith really wasn't in the mood to speak to anybody, especially not a certain blonde and frustratingly beautiful slayer. "Five by five."

"You always say that when something's wrong."

"I say it all the time, B." It's just Faith's luck that Buffy seemed to be bored. Or maybe... "Who are you avoiding?"

"Nobody!" Buffy's was a little too quick, a little too high-pitched. So Faith did what anyone else would do : raise an eyebrow and let Buffy panic. "I'm just hungry. You know, slayer metabolism and... And even if I was hypothetically avoiding somebody I wouldn't be 'avoiding', just..." 

"Your secret's safe with me, B." And it's not like Faith is trying to avoid Buffy, it's just that the last mission ended up being against a witch, and a lot of spells getting thrown about, and Faith is a little fuzzy on the details but she's fairly certain there might've been a truth spell or something, and she might've said some stuff that she shouldn't have. Fairly certain. 

"It's just that Giles keeps talking about plans," Buffy barely caught her breath before launching off into another ramble. "And money and buildings and training and there's so many potentials, so many slayers, and I'm supposed to be in charge and... and... Faith, I don't know what I'm doing!" 

Neither does Faith. 

*****

"You just need to sign here, Ms. Lehane." 

Faith blinked at the stack of paper Gunn, lawyered up in his best suit, was pushing towards her. "Um..." 

"Oh, I almost forgot!" He dug in his desk. Pulled out a pen that Faith was almost certain was demonic. 

"If you think I'm signing anything with that..." 

"It's the standard procedure for contracts like this." He gave her a reassuring smile. "Nothing to worries about." 

"If you say so." She probably shouldn't, but she took the pen anyways. It was only a millisecond before she started writing that the thought hit her. "Um, what exactly type of contract is this?" 

Someone huffed beside her. "I as happy as you are about this Faith." Eve kept her arms tightly crossed, glaring at the contract as if she could burn a hole in it. "Let's just get this over with." 

"Speed would be in everyone's best interest." Gunn shifted the papers closer towards Faith, she had to admit, she was a little worried they were going to swallow her. 

"Can you just..." Gunn was looking too cheerful. Eve was looking too disgruntled. "Can we go through everything one more time?" 

"Typical," Eve muttered next to her. 

"I understand you have interests elsewhere, Faith," Gunn put on his most patient tone. "But sometimes we have to make deals with the senior partners. Arranged marriages are--" 

"Marriages?" 

This couldn't be happening. Faith doesn't get married. Hell, she barely does relationships. Especially not... 

Eve lifted up a hand. Showed off her ring. "I love you too, darling." 

*****

"Ah, yes!" 

Faith perked up. "You found something?" 

"Yes, I believe I have," Giles smiled at himself. "There's a lovely castle off the coast of Scotland that would make an excellent base of operations. It even has a stable!" 

Faith slumped back down. "I meant about me." 

"I'm sorry?" Giles looked up from the computer to find an exhausted Faith staring back at him. 

"My sleep?" 

For a moment, Giles said nothing. "Oh, yes, right." Finally his brain clicked into gear. "Yes, your dreams. Um... You're quite sure they're supernatural in origin?" 

"They're freaky." 

"Dreams can often be 'freaky', Faith." 

"Not like this!" Faith had never had dreams like this. At least, not that she can remember. And she has plenty of experience with nightmares. 

"It would help if you could provide me with some more details." Giles started wiping his glasses in that way he always does when his mind is wandering. 

"They're also personal." 

"Ah." And he sounded way too knowing for Faith's liking. "Perhaps you should confer with Buffy. Maybe she--" 

"I'm fine. Probably nothing." 

"Speaking of, have you seen her anywhere?" Giles's attention was already drifting back to the computer. "We have a lot of paperwork to cover." 

*****

"Is this a... A challenge!" 

"Whoa there, calm down." Cordelia stuck out an arm to hold Groo back from an increasingly agitated Faith. 

"But she said..." 

"I don't care what she said, she's going to do it for us, isn't she?" It wasn't a question, and was directed directly at Faith. 

"Remember what happened the last time I babysat Connor?" Faith definitely does. Wishes she could forget, actually. On her scale of disasters, from murderous psychotic break to embarrassing herself in front of Buffy, it ranked pretty highly. 

"A true warrior learns from their mistakes!" Groo cheered almost as loudly as baby Connor cries. "And you are a great warrior!" 

"Yes, Faith," Cordelia started steering Groo away. "You are."

"Not too sure about that," Faith muttered under her breath. 

"Or are you a coward?" 

*****

"Fuck me." 

Faith wasn't sure what time it was, what day it was, or really what season it was. All she really knew was that she stumbling through the temporary safe house and that her head was groggier than a... groggy thing. 

"Oh, hey Faith!" Willow chirped brightly. "I was looking for..." 

"Dunno."

"Faith?" Willow frowned. "Are you okay?" 

"Five by..." 

Faith didn't have time to finish that sentence before the world went dark. 

***** 

"You want me to what?" 

"Murder me." Lilah took another sip of her wine, looking as classily evil as she always does. "You know, you take a knife and you go stab-stab?" She even included a little hand gesture for Faith's benefit. 

"Murder you." It wasn't so much a question as a statement that the world had gone mad. 

"I can sign you up for a refresher course." 

"Why?" 

"To keep your stabby skills in tip-top shape." Lilah smirked at Faith's exasperated sigh. "Oh, you mean why murder me?" 

"Yes." Faith wasn't in the mood for Wolfram & Hart mind games. 

"Some cases require creative solutions." Lilah leaned forward, her voice dropping. "If you'd want a beginner's lesson in Zowklaq copyright law..." Her voice getting a little too seductive. 

"I don't do that stuff anymore." Faith pushed her back.

Lilah just sighed, her smirk barely changing. "I suppose I'll just have to ask the good slayer then."

"Stay away from her." Faith wasn't about to let the law firm get their dirty claws into Buffy. Not in any dimension. 

"Or what?"

***** 

Buffy never avoided her friends. Never. It's just not something Buffy does. Buffy just needs a Buffy break to Buffy rest.

"You know it's good when Buffy refers to herself in the third person," she muttered to herself. 

She just wasn't sure what to do. 

She thought she was ready to a general, to be the leader, but it was supposed to be temporary. They were supposed to beat the First back to stupid hell from whence it came, and then Buffy wouldn't need to do anything anymore. She could go skating or shopping or shopping in skates! 

But here she was, not-hiding from everyone else, from all the questions and signatures and plans and-- 

"Buffy!" 

And it's just her luck that Andrew would be the first to find her. 

"Come!" 

Buffy got up before he could drag her with him. "What's wrong." 

"It's Faith." 

*****

Faith didn't even flinch at the latest chalice to fly her way. 

"It's gotta be somewhere." 

"Sure about that?" Faith chuckled at the platinum blond vampire in front of her, the pile of chalices around him growing larger with every passing second. 

"The bloody thing gotta be somewhere!" 

And maybe watching Spike drink his way through the days was more than mildly entertaining. Gathering all the Cups of all the Perpetual Tourments had been an easy task. Finding out which one was the right one, not so easy. 

"Sprite!" 

Faith ducked to avoid the cup Spike threw across the room. 

"Fanta!" And another. "Ginger coffee!" And the next. "Onion coffee!" Spike didn't even bother to toss that one. He just slumped down and snarled. "Give me a hand, will you?"

"Sorry man." Faith really should have brought some popcorn. "Not my prophecy." 

"Can't you use your sodding slayer shit to figure this out?" She could probably steal some popcorn from on the fancy staff lunch rooms. "Help me, Faithy-Wan Lehani, you're my only hope!" 

Faith had to raise an eyebrow at that. "Did you just...?" 

"Star Wars! The Force, lightsabers, destiny, delicious little Ewoks!" 

So that's what they had dragged everyone else to celebrate the end of a successful quarter. Course, Faith could probably quote the entite series and the books and the comics by heart, but she's not about to admit that. Especially not when she's having so much fun. "Maybe you should look for the Cup of Perpetual Nerdiness." 

"Oh, shut up." He tossed another cup at her, not even bothering to drink from it. "I'm supposed to be the chosen one! The one who lives happily ever after and gives Buffy what she needs!" 

"Sure B can handle herself." Faith did not want to think about the little flare of jealousy that lit up inside her stomach. 

"We're supposed to get married!" Sometimes Spike could give Angel a run for the Word Championship of Melodrama. "A love story for the ages. A real life Romeo and Juliet!" 

"Didn't they die?" 

"That's not the point, slayer." Spike lifted his hands towards the ceiling. "It would be... eff--" 

"What's up?" Harmony always chose the best moments to interrupt. Faith had her reservations about the whole deals-with-evil-laywers thingy, but it was definitely entertaining. 

"It doesn't matter." Spike slumped his head into the pile, spilled drinks running through his hair. "Nothing matters."

"Can I try?" Harmony picked up a cup and sniffed at it. 

"Knock yourself out," Faith shrugged. 

"Let's see..." Harmony looked over the pile. "Ooh, shiny." She grabbed one and downed it in one gulp. "Ulgh." 

Faith didn't know what to say. 

It only took a second before Harmony started glowing. Like, full-on mystical glow. "I feel tingly." 

Spike heard the heartbeat exactly at the same time that Faith picked it up. "Nooooooooo!" 

***** 

The good thing about research was that it meant Buffy didn't have to face questions she didn't have an answer to. 

The bad thing about research was that Buffy had a lot of questions the books didn't have answers to. For instance : what the heck's happening to Faith? Why can't we wake her up? How did these 6th century monks read their own writing? Is... Is Faith going to be okay? 

It's not that Buffy likes Faith - the whole turn evil, murder, and steal your body and boyfriend thing is a little hard to get over, even after a few years - it's just that they were getting into an almost-friendly friendship truce.

Well, almost. Her heated break-up with Robin had fueled the potential gossip circuit for weeks, and ever since, Faith had been pointedly avoiding Buffy. And Buffy had admit that it stung a little. Despite all her stupid jokes and show-offiness, Faith was the only one who really understood what it was like to be the one girl in all the world. And she was a huge help on patrols - strong, good at handling the potentials, funny... Buffy had been starting to look forward to spending time with her, and when Buffy saw her lying comatose on the safehouse sofa, Buffy's stomach twinged in a way she didn't want to think about. 

So Buffy did the good slayer, and launched herself into the books. You can't punch a demon if you don't if the demon even exists. 

"Ooh!" The demon did exist. The evil witch they took down a couple weeks ago was making a potion with bits that looked exactly(ish) like this demon. "The Geefjöd demon's..." Buffy did not need to see that illustration. "Its bits are often used to send a warrior into a trance before battle, to prepare the warrior for glorious victory." Kinda like Buffy's low-fat yoghurts, just spookier. "The ritual is broken through the conjoining of souls, the warrior and their true love, fates entwined in a kiss. The battle is always won by the greatest heart." 

Buffy wasn't listening to the silence that fell on the room. 

"Faith has a true love?" Buffy almost sniggered. "What's that? Leather and comic books?" Maybe it was a bit mean to pick on the girl in the trance, but Faith would laugh. "Ooh, or maybe..." 

Buffy slowly looked up as she realised that nobody was saying anything. In fact, they all kinda looked scared to open their mouths. 

"Why's everybody staring at me?" 

***** 

"Oh, darling." 

Faith trailed off halfway through her song at Lorne's sigh, the music pumping on awkwardly around her. 

"Darling, darling, darling." 

"What's going to happen." 

Lorne took another sip of his drink. "It's more what's not going to happen, butter tart." 

Faith wasn't much of a singer. When she was a kid, she learned the hard way that her mum did not like it. Her mum didn't like a lot of things, but singing especially. So, obviously, whenever Lorne needed a test subject for a new signing, he always always asked Faith (to be fair, she's always managed to find an excuse). 

And, obviously, the first time he actually manages to pin her down happens to be the first time he has an audience. 

"What's not going to happen to me?" 

"I think you know." 

"How would I... Hey!" It hadn't escaped Faith's notice that the guys in the back seemed to be running a betting pool. 

"Tell me, beaver tail," Lorne leaned forward in curiosity. "Do you know how to serenade?"

"Serenade?" 

"That's what I said, my little profiterole." 

"I don't serenade." Faith wanted to make that point extra clear. She doesn't sing, and she definitely doesn't serenade. Not that she'd have anyone to... She doesn't serenade. 

"You sure about that, saffron bun?" 

Now Faith was getting hungry. "Yes." 

"Well, you've got to so something about---" 

"I don't need to do anything." The words jumped out of Faith's mouth a little too quickly. 

"Angel," Lorne turned to the group behind him. "Do the dance of avoidance!" 

"Why me?" Faith almost felt sorry for how shell-shocked Angel looked. But Lorne snapped his fingers, and, well... Faith couldn't help but laugh.

"Now," satisfied, Lorne turned back to Faith. "About B--"

Waking up from a mystical coma is one hell of an adrenaline rush.

Faith could hardly be blamed for punching the first thing she saw.

Even if that happened to be Buffy's face.

***** 

"Crap."

Faith's hopes were dashed the moment she saw Buffy's perk up at what she thought she successfully muttered. Stupid slayer hearing.

"Sorry, I didn't know you were..." In Faith's spot on the roof.

Faith's instincts screamed at her to run away as Buffy stood up and frowned at her. "You're avoiding me."

"No I'm not."

"Then why are you doing that?" Buffy gestured at Faith's unsubtle yet half-hearted attempt to back away.

For a moment, Faith grappled to find a comeback. "You've been avoiding me."

"No I haven't."

"Then why's everyone always asking me where you are?" It was honestly starting to get on Faith's nerves. She's not Buffy's watcher. Nobody is.

For a few seconds that felt like forever, neither of them moved, just standing there glaring at each other.

"I'm not avoiding you," Faith said as she pointedly sat down next to Buffy, arms crossed.

"Good, because I'm not avoiding you." Buffy did exactly the same.

For a minute, they both sat there in silence under the night sky. Eventually, Faith couldn't stop her attention from drifting, her eyes from flitting over to the slayer next to her, the faintest outline of a bruise barely visible on Buffy's slightly shivering cheek.

Faith wasn't expecting Buffy to be looking back at her. "It's not you."

"Huh?" 

"It's just..." Faith didn't need to be an expert in Buffyology to see that Buffy was moping. "I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing." 

"What do you mean?" 

"I was all leadery, General Buffy, whooping the First's ass, empowering the girls, and all that, but..." Part of Faith wished she had brought her leather jacket outside with her so she could throw it around Buffy's shoulders. "When you're a general, the war's supposed to finish." 

It doesn't. Faith knows that as well as anyone. Especially since Angel loves his speeches about redemption (and Faith secretly does to). And as for the slayer side of things, well, the forces of darkness are a renewable resource.

"There's so many decisions and papers and houses and... and people... and--" 

"B." Faith didn't want Buffy to start crying. "You got this." 

"No, I don't." 

"Sure you do." Faith wasn't sure about a lot of things, but she was sure about Buffy. "Shit, you manage to put up with me. You can do anything!" 

For some reason, Buffy blushed furiously at that. 

"You're a good leader, B." A great leader. 

"Who are you avoiding?" Buffy changed the subject very quickly, her voice reaching that special high pitch. 

"Um," Faith wasn't sure how to put this. Wasn't sure that she wanted to put this. "You." 

"Me?" Buffy couldn't hide the sting on her face. 

"You know the fight I had with Robin?" Faith was still a little ticked off, even if the more she thought about it, the more he had a point. "He said I was in love with you. And maybe... Maybe he was right." 

Finally, the words were out. But they were met with silence. 

"Please say something." 

It's only when Faith's pleading eyes looked up that she saw Buffy staring at her with an incomprehensible mix of emotions. "Did..." Buffy was having trouble finding the words of her own. "Did they tell you how we woke you up?" 

"Uh, no." They just muttered something about it being Buffy's story to tell or some bullshit like, and Faith really didn't appreciate Buffy changing the subject. "Look, I know we--" 

It happened so quickly and so softly that Faith almost missed it. But the feeling of Buffy kissing her was better than anything she had imagined. "True love, apparently." 

It wasn't often that Faith was stunned into silence. "B, you..." 

"I don't know." Buffy sighed, eyes finally breaking away from Faith's. "I don't know what it means or if it's a good idea or if you or I thought I was straight or..." She grabbed Faith's hand. "But if you..." 

"I do."

"Then," Buffy didn't move away from Faith. "Then can we find out? Together?" 

"Always."

The smile that Buffy gave her, shy and happy, was worth everything. "And, maybe, together, we could save the world from the potentials." 

"Yeah." Faith really should be saying something more intelligent, but that part of her brain seems to have shut down. Buffy. Together.

"They've already cleared today's groceries!" Buffy pouted and Faith thought it was absolutely adorable. "There's only one slice of pizza left! Only one!" 

That news was enough to snap Faith out of her content haziness. "Only one?" 

Buffy smirked and jumped to her feet. "Race you to it?" 

"Wait, B." Faith grabbed Buffy before she could get a head start. "What's the loser supposed to eat?" 

It took Buffy a moment to register the tone of Faith's voice. "Faith!" 

Faith winked at her. "Love you too, B." And kissed her. 

Buffy wasn't even mad when Faith used that dastardly distraction to run off towards the kitchen. 

Especially since Buffy knew a shortcut.


End file.
